Sanity Effects
"This... Can't... Be... HAPPENING!" -- ''Various Characters'' Sanity Effects are a gameplay aspect of Eternal Darkness. It is first seen by playing Ellia, because Pious Augustus does not have a Sanity Meter in his Chapter. How it works As the player character sees monsters, their Sanity Meter depletes. The lower the Meter when entering a room, the more likely a Sanity Effect will occur and the more severe it will be. When the Sanity Effect is over, the screen flashes a bright white, after which everything returns to normal as the player is teleported to the last room he was in (not the room he attempted to enter) and exclaims something along the lines of: "This can't be happening!" If the Sanity Meter is empty, Health depletes instead, although this has no bearing on Sanity Effects. Usually, if a Sanity Effect is present, then you will not be able to escape its effects and resume regular gameplay until it plays out. Most effects occur randomly, although some are scripted to appear only in certain levels or at certain points (See "Other Examples" for these.) Examples The effects come in several varieties, sometimes affecting the screen, character, or enviroment. Character Examples *Your character may turn into a zombie. *Attempting to cast a magick spell may cause the character's upper body to explode, resulting in the (fake) death of the character. *The character's limbs may explode at random in a systematic order, going for the arms and then the head, resulting in the (fake) death of the character. *The character may shrink or grow. This is most commonly seen in the strange curved corridors of the Forbidden City. *When shooting a gun in a small or narrow corridor, the character will turn around and shoot at the player leaving a fake bullet hole in the TV. (Similiar to the Prologue of the James Bond movies.) *When attempting to reload a gun, it may go off in the character's stomach, resulting in the (fake) death of the character. This is most prominent in Max's chapter, for he is the only one without a bigger gun than his flintlock pistols. Revolvers in other chapters have been known to cause this phenomenon to occur as well. *When activating the button to view a portrait the head falls out and levitates on screen reciting "HAMLET" Screen Examples *Sometimes the screen will take up a sepia tone. *Changes are made to the camera angle. This change increases in severity the lower the Sanity Meter gets. *Bugs may appear to be crawling on the TV screen. *The game will lower the gameplay volume while displaying a green volume bar, similar to real on-screen TV settings. *The screen goes black, and you hear you character getting eaten until they "die". (Extremely similiar to Return to Zork, as if the character was being eaten by a grue. However the grue can be pushed off even if no Control Stick with "Break free" is shown in the upper-right.) *A false sneak-preview of a sequel to the game, called, "Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Redemption" will appear. *When you attempt to save your game, the message will say, "Would you like to delete all your saved files?" Even if you say no, the saved files will be "deleted". *A screen similar to Microsoft's "Blue Screen of Death" will appear. *You will see the image you see when you start up or reset the game, quoting Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" in Edward Roivas' voice. *When you open your inventory screen, all your inventory spaces appear empty. *When entering a room, the character may be unable to move or attack, and the player will get a fake system message telling that the controller has been unplugged, all the while many zombies attack him/her. *A fake screen message will appear, congratulating the player for finishing the demo of the game. Environment Examples *The environment will be upside down. *Blood will drip from the walls and/or ceiling. Hitting the walls will cause them to bleed more. *The character will sink into the ground completely as if it's quicksand. *Statues and busts may turn to look at you. *When you enter certain rooms, the ground may be flooded with extra ammunition. Too bad it's all a trick of the mind. *Sometimes an effect will occur where there is a ton of ammo lying around. Which can even be picked up, but will disapear once the effect is over. *Camera Angles will also change as the sanity meter lowers. Other Examples *During Max's chapter (Roivas Mansion, Chapter 5), after climbing down the ladder in the basement you may reach the asylum with a solitary barred door. Attempting to open it causes Max to realize he is trapped inside (Scripted and a foreshadowing). *In the room with the strange purple flooring (Ehn'gha, Chapter 12), failing to tiptoe across causes the unnamed worm beast to attack. The screen will take up a sepia tone, and you will not be able to escape from the room until your Sanity Meter is full. *Once reaching the Second Floor of the Roivas Mansion (as Alex), you examine the bathtub and find Alex's dead self in a tub of blood, and hear a blood-curdling scream (possible from Alex reacting, or only in her mind). Triggering this event does not alter your Sanity Meter, but it acts as a Sanity Effect regardless. *As Alex reads the Tome of Eternal Darkness (as the player proceeds through other character's Chapters), you may see exchanges between Alex and the ghost of Edward Roivas. Although the times they occur vary somewhat, they always play in order and are situated as plot devices. These events do not pertain to or alter your Sanity Meter, but they act as Sanity Effects regardless. They end with the character of that Chapter treating the conversations as hallucinations, the same as typical Sanity Effects. (Roberto Bianchi has such a funny voice, doesn't he?) *In the Roivas Mansion (as Alex), you may find a hanging man behind the dining room's piano, Once you examine him, he will open his eyes, and a voice whispers ominously from his unmoving lips: "The darkness is coming." *At one point, as Alex proceeds through the main hall of the Roivas Mansion, she hears the phone on the far left of the room start to ring. When she picks up the phone, she hears Edward Roivas speak: "Remember me, Alex?" It's similar to how he sounded in her dream/nightmare at the beginning of the game. (how much does it cost to call from beyond the grave?) *Various area-specific noises and voices will sound. For example: the temple in Angkor Thom features sounds like winding, echoing chains and fiendish chanting. In the Roivas Mansion, women's voices are heard, screaming and crying, Knocking doors, and occasionally laughing maniacally. *Occasionally some enemies will appear to be tiny (especially funny when the enemy is a Horror). *Upon entering an area you will be surrounded by enemies which will disappear after one hit. *Teleporting back to the room you just left after getting halfway down the hallway (rather annoying). *Entering a room with many zombies and get a fake death by just losing sanity (as if the character was so shocked that he/she fainted). *Gigantic Zombies can sometimes appear, they tower over the player. *Some of the three headed monsters will be impossible to kill. Other games *In Metal Gear Solid Twin Snakes, the fight with Mantis also contains some of the sanity effects from Eternal Darkness, these include. *A "Hideo" text will appear in green and the screen blacks out. During the begging and middle of the fight, these indicate when you should switch controller ports. (Mantis will scream "BLACKOUT!") *Not being able to use first person view, and will switch to the view from Mantis/Meryl. *Pictures laughing. *Mantis can anticpate your attacks. (Using a different controller port will stop this.) *Low Volume screams can be heard if one listens carefully to the music. *Statues watching you (Unconfirmed). *Cmaera Angle(s) can change. (Unconfrimed) *Before rescuing ocelotm if you come out of the elevator and press snake's back against the wall to the right, the "chimes" sound from eternal darkness can be heard.